Hello, and welcome to Star Wars: Survivors, chapter 1. This sort of ties in with my other Star Wars story, Unexpected Places, and will probably feature several of the same characters, either as main characters, secondary slots or simply as cameos. Now, as usual, I will have to point out that I obviously don't own the Star Wars franchise or any of the characters that are associated with Star Wars...I do however own several original characters, as shown here. Well, now that we have all that out of the way, please remember to enjoy, don't forget to leave a review, and finally...thanks for reading!
Date: 19 BBY
Location: Dimock
Tadra slashed into a member of the Dimockian militia, creating a huge gash from his shoulder to his hip. Turning, he sent another three flying with a push from the Force before decapitating a B1 battle droid which had been running towards him. There's never any end to them, we try to convince them to join the Republic, only for them to turn on us and join the Separatists, Tadra thought as he impaled another droid.
"Master! How do you fare?" Tadra's Padawan, Molkir Tyd, a gangly, furry Gados cried as he gracefully redirected a shot from a tactical droid.
"Fine Molkir, I am fine!" Tadra called back as he disarmed a colonist, only to cry out as a stray shot winged one of his horns.
Tadra Kren was an Elomin Jedi, a species who were believed to be related to the Zabrak, only much more mathematically minded and with grander horns.
"Tadra! Are you alright?" Tadra's friend, Yulo Gart, a green skinned Gama-Senn asked as he rushed to his side to provide cover.
"Fine, it was just a scratch." Tadra said, reassuring his friend as he got to his feet and deflected another shot.
All around the trio of Jedi were hundreds of clone troopers from the 179th Legion fighting settlers from Dimock and their battle droid allies. Leading the charge atop an All Terrain-Tactical Enforcer was CC-4236, also known as Torch. Aside from a kama, rangefinder and pauldron, Torch was indistinguishable from his soldiers, a personal choice. Chartreuse stripes ran along his armour, the same pattern was present on the armour of all of the members of the 179th Legion.
"Generals, how goes the siege?" Torch asked from atop the gunner's position of the AT-TE.
"Very well, Commander, we expect to break through their defences very soon!" Tadra shouted to be heard over the din of combat.
And Tadra's words soon proved to be correct as the militia threw down their arms when it became apparent that they stood no chance of winning. The droids on the other hand, held their ground, save for some of the more self preserving tactical droids, who fled off into the wilderness, alongside a handful of organic soldiers. The battle was short, however, as the Jedi and their valiant clone trooper allies were quick to mop up the remaining battle droid forces.
Yulo sighed and looked out to the jungle where some of the survivors had fled "Well, I suppose we'll have to go and round them up?"
Torch got down from his position "I'm afraid not, General."
"Oh? And why is that, Commander?" Tadra asked.
"We've just received a report that a Venator-class Star Destroyer was downed, although several escape pods were launched." Torch explained.
"So we're supposed to go out and round up the survivors?" Molkir questioned as he approached, clipping his lightsaber to his belt.
"Not quite, sir, apparently, this particular Star Destroyer was transporting a group of newborns freshly acquisitioned by the Jedi order, to be taken back to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. The infants were fortunate enough to escape via an escape pod, and it is our duty to rescue them." Torch said for clarification.
"I see," Tadra said, stroking his chin "And what of the Jedi Recruiter who found them?"
Torch sighed "Regrettably, Master Donus Trier was killed while escorting the younglings to safety; he was unable to get to an escape pod in time. Instead, he chose to make sure that the younglings were launched safely."
"Ah...Torch, I'll need you and two squads of troopers to escort us, we may encounter Separatist patrols out there and we may need the assistance." Tadra informed the Commander.
Torch nodded "Very well sir, I'll go and prepare the eopies."
"Bring an RTT, we may need it." Yulo called out to Torch as he walked off.
Soon, the group rode out to where the escape pod was believed to have landed. The Jedi, Torch and a handful of clones rode eopies while the rest rode in the Republic Troop Transport as it cruised along a couple of meters off the ground. Taking out a pair of macrobinoculars, Tadra scouted the area.
"See anything yet, Master?" Molkir asked.
"Hmmm, not yet, I...Wait a second, I think I see something..." Tadra murmured as he settled on the object in the distance "Yes, this appears to be it..."
And so, they continued on to the escape pod, shortly arriving at it.
"Well, it seems to be intact." One of Torch's men, a trooper named Hound observed as he approached it.
Hound was Torch's right hand clone, and unlike his Commander, did believe in customising his armour. His helmet was reinforced, having a blast shield mounted to the forehead and sideplates to protect his face. In addition to that, he had a rangefinder attached to his helmet, two pauldrons and a massif was painted across his chest.
"Let's just hope that the younglings are in the same condition." Yulo murmured as he began keying in a code for the escape pods doors.
The pods door hissed, before sliding open and revealing a number of younglings of varying species, ranging from the human, the humanoid and the outright alien.
"Molkir?" Tadra motioned to his Padawan.
"Yes Master?" Molkir asked.
"Bring out the checklist; I want to make sure that they are all here." Tadra informed Molkir.
"Very well Master" Molkir replied as he brought out a small pad and began to read aloud ""Younglings of Krakana Clan", uh, let's see...Arikki T'Cha...Human/Noorian hybrid female"
Tadra and Yulo scouted the group before settling on a young human girl with blonde hair and green eyes, flecked with gold "Check." Yulo replied.
"Aran Gunnar, Teloc male"
A yellow skinned humanoid with horns on his head.
"O'choa Pyne, Zabrak female"
A little Zabrak girl with black hair was carried forward. Yulo smiled, trying to elicit a response from the youngling, only to get nothing.
"Tora Mikalto, Nikto male"
A Kajain'sa'Nikto was carried out of the pod and brought towards Tadra.
"Philo Skrelth, Gran male"
A Gran child, no more than six months old shivered as he was brought out into the cold air. He clutched tightly to the arm of the clone trooper who was carrying him.
"Mas Tolnoth, Tughri male"
A small alien which none of the Jedi, nor the clones had ever seen before was picked up. He had red skin, a diamond shaped piece of hardened skin in place of a nose and long, gangly limbs.
"Well, he's lighter than I would have expected." Hound noted as he delicately picked up the infant and placed him with the others.
Molkir continued "Luxa and Marruc Goss, female and male Zeltrons respectively."
Two red skinned Zeltron children, likely twins were brought to their fellow called younglings, each held the others hand. The girl, Luxa, had red hair, while her brother, Marruc had blue hair.
"Gaz Fordus, Filordus, asexual"
A small, orange skinned alien, resembling a four legged, two armed hairless dog tried to lope forward, before collapsing. Gaz looked at the Jedi with curiosity, seeming to examine them, before it too was carried away by one of the clone troopers.
"Taro Manus, Ipharian-Da'Lor male..." Molkir said, looking towards his master.
A small, serpentine alien got out of the pod. It had grey scales, two arms ending in clawed hands, a row of sharp spines and equally sharp looking teeth. To the wonder of the clone troopers, his skin seemed to be cycling through a range of different hues.
"Camouflage, now that will be a highly useful skill." Tadra noted with approval.
"Um...Holdus Gaan, Akurian Male" Molkir continued to read aloud.
A blue fur covered alien, somewhat resembling a Wookiee lurched forward, fur covering all but his face. The clone that picked him up seemed to do so with incredible difficulty.
"Stang, this one is heavy!" He gasped breathlessly.
"No swearing in front of the younglings, please." Tadra reprimanded.
"Takaris Gold, Mon Calamari male"
A little Mon Calamari child closely followed behind Holdus, his large orange eyes darting back and forth between the Jedi and the clones.
"Gorras-Krik, Ongree male"
A strange, squid headed alien was shown before them, his mouth set in the centre of his head while his eyes were close to his chin.
"Kallus Eikh'mir, Gengh-Noghri male...um, Gengh-Noghri?" a puzzled Molkir questioned.
"They're a subspecies of Noghri found in Wild Space, they have crocodilian heads and tend to grow up to two meters in height," Torch explained, then found himself being examined by the surprised Jedi "I, uh, fought a few while the Separatists were holed up in an old Rakatan temple."
"Ok then, moving on we have...Kori Dannus, Ithorian male"
A hammer headed Ithorian was carried forward. Peering closely at the child, Tadra could sense a great deal of power in him, along with...something else...
"Arla Downe, Aleena female."
Yulo picked up a tiny Aleena child and set her down next to Gorras, only for her to quickly scamper next to Holdus.
"Garr-Ack-Psyaka, he's a Tiss'shar male."
Torch made his way to the escape pod, but leapt back when a reptilian youth leapt out and scampered to take his place next to the other younglings. It was clear that the boy would grow into a fierce alien, bearing jagged claws, razor sharp teeth and having green and yellow skin that would allow him to blend in with a number of areas.
"And finally...Vasaga Nomaki, Noorian male"
A dark skinned humanoid alien was taken out of the escape pod, and Tadra observed his eyes, green striped with gold. He could also sense that he had a great deal of Force power within him, rivalling that of the Ithorian, Kori, possibly even greater.
"Well, that's all of them." Tadra observed as he glanced at the younglings "We should move out before the Separatists show up, they always try and capture soldiers fresh out of their escape pods."
"Good idea, come on younglings, we're leaving." Torch informed the children as he helped Arikki onto an eopie, where a wide catcher was in place in order to carry the infants.
The girl shrieked happily, clearly enjoying herself as Torch visibly bristled.
"He doesn't have much skill when it comes to dealing with younglings, does he?" Molkir whispered to Yulo.
"No he does not." Yulo agreed as Torch struggled to hold onto Mas, who was struggling about within the Commander's arms, as he tried to break free. Yulo muttered something else, before walking off to help Torch get a squirming Arla on to an eopie; she seemed to be quite reluctant to part with Holdus.
"Well, it looks like all of the infants are present and accounted for, Generals." Torch said, having finished helping to load them onto the eopie.
"Very good, Commander, we have done a very good thing today. We should take them to the closest spaceport before any Separatist forces show up. I'll arrange a shuttle or a freighter to take them to Coruscant." Tadra said as he mounted his own eopie, pulling out his com-link as he did so.
"With any luck, by the time they become Jedi, the war will have ended." Yulo said as he urged his mount to go forward.
"We can hope, Yulo, we can hope." Tadra said, nodding his head.
And at that, the group began their trek back towards the spaceport.
A few hours later, the group still had not finished their journey. They had found themselves slowed down somewhat by a combination of making detours in order to round up more survivors from their escape pods and dealing with the infants so that their noises would not give away their position to any listening Separatist forces.
"At this rate it'll be another three days before we even get halfway back." Hound muttered in clear annoyance.
"Have patience, we'll be there soon." Torch reassured his brother, although secretly he too was somewhat irritated.
Ahead of them, the RTT took point in case of any ambushes. Just behind the vehicle were the Jedi and their young charges, lumbering along slowly on their eopie mounts.
"How much further is it, Master?" Molkir asked as he glanced around the area "I'm starting to get a little edgy out here. It's far too open for my tastes."
"We still have a ways to go yet, Padawan. We must simply settle for being patient and alert." Tadra said, noting that Molkir's hand was near his lightsaber.
"I have to agree with Molkir, Tadra." Yulo spoke up; looking somewhat weary "Something doesn't seem to be quite right."
"Do you feel a disturbance in the Force?" Tadra asked, feeling something similar.
Yulo looked uneasy "I can't quite figure out what it is, but I can feel something ominous."
Tadra nodded in response, his own hand reaching cautiously for his lightsaber "Then we must be cautious. Danger could be lurking anywhere, ready to strike."
Behind them, Torch realised that his com-link was going off. Reaching for it, he activated it and was greeted by the tiny holographic image of Sate Pestage "Sir." Torch addressed Pestage.
"Commander, the time has come, execute Order 66." Pestage said sternly.
"Yes, sir, it will be done." Torch said, nodding.
"I understand that you are transporting a group of Force sensitive younglings?" Pestage queried.
Torch nodded again "That is correct, sir. Infants to be precise, to be taken back to Coruscant for training in the Jedi ways. Do we have orders to eliminate them as well?"
Besides him, Hound shot Torch a surprised look.
Pestage, however, shook his head "Negative, Commander. You are to bring them back alive, by personal order of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. He has need of their...unique skills."
Torch was puzzled, why would the Chancellor want seventeen Force sensitive infants? Nevertheless, he held his tongue; it was not his place to question the orders of the Supreme Leader of the Grand Army of the Republic. Instead, he nodded once more "Very well, sir, the Supreme Chancellor's orders will be carried out. I will make sure of it."
Without another word, the image of Pestage flickered and died. Torch looked to his men "Right, you heard him, you know what this means. Be very careful when you deal with them, their lightsabers are vicious."
"What about the RTT, sir?" Hound asked.
Torch shook his head "Too risky, we can't afford to hit the younglings, the Chancellor would have all our heads. No, we're just going to have to do this one the old fashioned way." Torch said as he brought out a DC-17 blaster pistol.
The Jedi were puzzled as the RTT ahead of them slowed to a stop. A few seconds later, all fourteen of the clone troopers who were aboard it came pouring out, while the mounted clones got off of their eopies.
"Commander Torch? What is going on?" A confused Tadra asked, looking around at the clones under his command.
"Fire." Was all Torch said as he and his fellow clone troopers all proceeded to launch an assault on their former allies.
Instinctively, the Jedi all pulled out their lightsabers and activated them, trying to repel the incoming volley of blaster shots. Three lightsaber blades sprang to life, two green and one blue. Alone it would have been a difficult task, but for three Jedi it was achievable. Besides, they knew that they were not just fighting for themselves, but also for the infants that they had been charged with escorting to safety.
"Torch, are you out of your mind?-!" Molkir exclaimed in shock as he deflected an incoming shot harmlessly into the air.
"Wish it didn't have to be this way, Commander." Torch murmured as he pulled out a second pistol and continued to fire.
The battle surely would have continued, had a group of Dimockian militiamen and Separatist battle droids not suddenly burst into the clearing and start firing.
"No! Not crinking now!" Torch shouted out in frustration as he was forced to swing around and open fire on the newcomers.
"Quickly, get into the RTT! I'll handle the younglings!" Tadra shouted to Molkir and Yulo.
"But, Master-!" Molkir protested.
"Go, Molkir!" Tadra roared as he rushed to undo the ropes fastening the catcher to the eopie as the younglings wailed in alarm.
"Come along, Molkir! We have to let him do this!" Yulo said as he grabbed Molkir by his arm and forcibly dragged him into the vehicle.
Grabbing the catcher with the Force, Tadra quickly followed his fellow Jedi into the RTT, setting the younglings onto the ground. Having rescued the infants, he rushed to get into the pilot's seat.
"Yulo, you take the gunner's position! Molkir, I want you to see to the younglings, they're quite distressed." Tadra said calmly as he powered up the RTT and began to drive it to safety.
With a grim certainty, Tadra knew that if their clone troopers had turned on them, then surely they would be doing so to all of the Jedi.
A few minutes after the fighting began; it stopped just as quickly as it had started. The clones stood over the dead Separatists as the handful of survivors fled back to where they had come from.
"Who do we pursue, Commander?" Hound asked, glaring in the direction of the cowardly Separatists.
Torch looked up, his attention momentarily caught by a slain militiaman "We'll go after the Jedi first; they're more of a threat. We'll need reinforcements first. Mount up while I call for backup!"
At that, the surviving clone troopers clambered onto their eopies and rushed off the follow the Jedi. Those that had been in the RTT had to run to keep pace with their fellow clone troopers.
"What do we do now, Master?" Molkir asked, having finally succeeded in quieting down the younglings.
"Now we must flee far from this planet, Molkir. In fact, I fear that we will have to flee far from civilised space just to escape this threat." Tadra said gravelly.
Yulo's eyes widened in shock "Tadra, surely you can't be serious!"
Tadra looked sternly at his friend "I'm afraid I am, Yulo. Think! If our clone troopers are turning against us, then there's a very likely possibility that all of them are turning on their Jedi Generals."
Molkir slumped down in a nearby seat "They'll be butchered like cattle!"
"Have faith, Molkir, I'm sure others have managed to survive." Yulo said reassuringly.
Tadra did not look convinced "Nevertheless, we must be pragmatic. We must be prepared for the worst possible outcome. My friends, it may be possible that we are the last three Jedi still active."
Molkir looked physically ill at that statement, while Yulo balked "Tadra, surely-!"
"As I said, Yulo, we must assume the worst. If we truly are the last remnants of the Jedi, then we need to prepare. We shall have to flee deep into Wild Space." Tadra said.
"And what of the infants, Master?" Molkir asked, sparing a glance at the younglings that they had rescued, who were presently napping.
"They must be taught in the ways of the Jedi Order. If our teachings survive, then so will the Jedi." Tadra said, looking thoughtfully at the younglings.
Suddenly, the RTT jolted violently, throwing Molkir off of his seat. The infants woke up and started wailing in fright.
"Blast! They found us!" Tadra exclaimed.
And it was true; Tadra looked out of the view screen to see a number of speeder bikes pursuing their escape vehicle.
"By the Force! Look at that!" Yulo gasped, pointing to the sky.
Tadra felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he caught sight of an LAAT flying up to them, no doubt packed to the gills with clone troopers rearing to take down the Jedi.
"Yulo, get back to the weapons placements. Take them down." Tadra said as he retook the controls of the RTT.
Yulo did as he was told to do and targeted the LAAT. Lining up his shot, he fired two missiles at it. The LAAT banked hard to the right in order to avoid the shots, before it fired at the jungle in front of them.
"That was nowhere near us!" Molkir exclaimed.
"Destroying us was not their intent. They seem to be preoccupied with cutting us off." Tadra replied as he swerved to avoid a downed tree that had been knocked into their path.
"But why would they do that, unless they wanted us ali-?" Yulo broke off in mid-sentence, his eyes turning to face the younglings.
Tadra was horrified "By the Force...We need to get them out of here as quickly as possible!"
Outside, Torch was leading the pursuit from a speeder bike, his underslung blaster cannon spitting death at the RTT. It would certainly not be enough to destroy the vehicle, but with any luck it might be able to disable it.
"Bring it down! Do whatever you have to, as long as it doesn't kill those infants!" Torch barked into his com-link.
Besides him, Hound-also riding a speeder bike-nodded and continued to fire on the escaping Jedi vessel.
There can be no escape for you this time, Torch thought as he glared from under his helmet.
"Blast!" Tadra cursed as hit after hit rocked the craft, slowly chipping away at their shields.
"Master, what do we do?" A fretful Molkir asked as he wrung his hands.
An idea suddenly came to Tadra "Molkir, take the helm." At that he stood up and went to the nearest exit hatch.
Molkir quickly rushed into the pilot's chair and steadied the RTT, before turning to glance at his Master "Master, what are you-?"
"Now, open the door, Molkir." Tadra interrupted, speaking calmly.
"But-!" Molkir tried to exclaim.
"Better do what he says, Molkir." Yulo broke in this time "He's got a plan."
Looking apprehensive, Molkir nevertheless opened the door in front of Tadra. The Elomin Jedi carefully walked down the ramp, before turning and leaping up onto the roof of the RTT. He crouched, steadying himself, before standing and pulling out his lightsaber, the emerald blade humming softly.
Tadra brought out his com-link and spoke: "Yulo, fire two more missiles at the LAAT."
"Roger." Was all Yulo said before he carried out his order.
Two more missiles streaked towards the LAAT, which was now strafing them. Once more, it nimbly avoided them, but this time, Tadra was there. Reaching out with the Force, he pulled the missiles out of the air. Gripping onto them, Tadra proceeded to redirect them.
Straight into the LAAT.
The first missile slammed into the infantry bay, instantly killing the troopers who were inside it. The second slammed into the nose. To Tadra's surprise, the pilot and co-pilot managed to eject just in time, flames licking at their escape pod as it careened somewhere into the jungle. Now pilotless and badly, the LAAT was swerving crazily through the air. Tadra used all of his strength to grab onto the LAAT, before turning it into an improvised missile. Pushing with all of his strength, Tadra turned and threw the damaged LAAT, straight into the hordes of pursuing speeder bikes.
"Crink!" An alarmed Torch swore as he swerved madly to avoid the incoming vehicle, accidentally striking a downed tree and being sent tumbling off of the bike.
Hound and a few other lucky clone troopers were also able to avoid the LAAT. The brunt of the speeder bike force, however, was not so fortunate, as many were struck by the LAAT as it rolled repeatedly off of the ground.
"Commander! Commander, are you alright?" Hound asked, pulling his speeder bike to a stop and searching for his leader.
Torch groaned as he looked up into the sky through a cracked visor. Luckily for him, the armour had soaked up most of the damaged of his little spill, but he hurt all over, and he was pretty sure his left arm was broken. As it was, he felt too sore to even call out.
"Over here!" Clone trooper Backlash called out, finding his Commander's body.
"Stang! Hurry up and call in a medivac!" Hound called out to the communications officer "Don't worry, Commander, we'll get them."
"Make them pay for what they did to us! They killed our brothers, they must pay!" Torch whispered, gripping onto Hound's chest plate and pulling him forwards.
Hound nodded "We will, Commander. Don't worry, we will."
Kilometres away, Molkir slumped into his seat, exhausted after that harrowing chase. Tadra swung in through the open door and placed a reassuring hand on Molkir's shoulder. The fight had caused quite a bit of damage to the RTT, completely crippling it, ensuring that they would be going nowhere for a while.
"You did very well, Molkir." Tadra said to his Padawan.
"And what about me, my friend? I fired the missiles after all." Yulo pointed out, a grin on his face.
Tadra nodded "Of course, you were also very helpful. I thank you for that Yulo."
"What do we do now, Master?" Molkir asked.
"We're still going to the spaceport, Molkir, we have to-" Yulo began.
"No." Tadra interrupted, shaking his head slowly.
"No? What do you mean "no"? Tadra, we have to get these younglings to safe-!" Yulo started again, only to once more be interrupted.
"We cannot do that anymore. It's too dangerous. I see now that the clones will never stop pursuing us." Tadra said gravelly.
"Then what do we do, Master?" Molkir asked nervously.
Tadra looked sadly at his Padawan "You will go to the spaceport, Molkir and take the younglings off of this planet. You must take them somewhere safe where whoever is orchestrating this never gets their hands on them."
Molkir looked shocked "But, Master, I thought you said-!"
"I said that we couldn't go to the spaceport, Molkir," Tadra broke in, motioning to himself and Yulo "It would pose too great a risk if we were to all go. Molkir, I want you to do something very important for me. Take the younglings, there should be a trolley in the back you can carry them all on and take them to the spaceport. Then leave somewhere far away where they'd never think to look for you."
Molkir's eyes widened in alarm "But, Master, what of you?"
Tadra sighed "Yulo and I must stay behind. We'll hold them off for as long as possible so that you can get away."
Yulo nodded, agreeing with his friend's plan.
"But...No! You can't! You'll die! Who will teach the younglings in the ways of the Jedi Order?" A panicking Molkir asked.
"You, of course." Tadra said softly "You are capable Molkir, I know that you are. They will not have a finer instructor."
"I can't do it alone, Master." Molkir whispered.
"You can, Molkir, we have faith in you." Yulo said in his most reassuring tone of voice.
Molkir looked down at his feet, unsure of himself, before looking up to face his Master and Yulo. He took in a deep breath and tried to look confident "I will do my best, Masters."
Yulo nodded "We know that you will, Molkir."
"There is one last matter, Molkir. Turn around." Tadra said as he reached for his lightsaber.
Molkir did so, and then heard a humming noise. There was a quick flash of green light and Molkir felt a rush of air on the back of his neck.
"You can turn around now, Molkir." Yulo said.
Molkir obeyed and turned to face the two Masters. In one hand, Tadra clutched onto his deactivated lightsaber. In the other hand, opened and outstretched, was Molkir's Padawan braid.
"Congratulations, Molkir, you are now a Jedi Knight." Yulo said, a tiny smile on his face.
"Fifteen seems too young to be a Jedi Knight..." Molkir mumbled.
Tadra nodded "I know but given the circumstances I'm sure that you'll cope."
Molkir nodded "Thank you, Master."
"You should leave now, before any more clones show up." Tadra said. As Molkir turned to go, Tadra added "Molkir?"
Molkir turned "Yes, Master?"
"May the Force be with you, my Padawan." Tadra said.
Molkir nodded "And with you, Masters."
The next day, Torch and Hound soon arrived, backed by an entire company of clone troopers. Torch's arm was in a cast, but he didn't care, he was determined to fight alongside his men, despite his injury. Before they were to attack, Torch addressed his men, Hound standing right beside him.
"Men of Whirlwind Company, we are about to face a dangerous enemy today. The traitors to the Republic, our former generals, the Jedi! It will be difficult, yes, but I know that this time we will be able to defeat them!" Torch exclaimed as he paced in front of his soldiers, who let out a massive cry.
"We should spread out in order to cover more ground." Hound suggested.
"A dangerous tactic, Hound, but given that we need to find them as soon as possible, we may have no other choice." Torch said.
At that, the clone troopers began to separate into smaller groups as they started their sweep of the area in search of their elusive Jedi foe. The group had not gotten far when they heard a piercing cry, followed by the sound of blaster fire, which tapered off alarmingly quickly.
"The Jedi!" Hound exclaimed, pulling out a DC-15S blaster rifle.
"Stay alert, men, they're nearby!" Torch barked as he drew his sidearm.
Another scream and more blaster fire, this time to their left. Torch whirled around, only to see his brothers and trees which obscured his view of the surrounding area. Torch cursed at this, yet continued forward. Suddenly, there was a whir of green in front of him, and another clone trooper was struck down.
"It's the Jedi! Fire, fire!" Hound ordered as he raised his own weapon.
Sure enough, Tadra Kren was rushing towards the group, his lightsaber slashing madly through the air to deflect blaster bolts and fell any unfortunate clone trooper who was in his path.
"Take him down!" Torch commanded as he raised his pistol to fire on his former commander...
...Only to be suddenly knocked off of his feet, as if he had been shoved by an invisible hand. Looking up, Torch could see Yulo rush towards Tadra, effortlessly cutting down any clone that got in the way. He was a blur of blue and green as he hacked his way through the clones, almost like a skilled dancer.
"Hello, Commander." Yulo said as the pair approached the downed clones.
"By order of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, you are to be executed immediately." Torch said gravely as he tried to get back to his feet, only for Tadra to push them back to the ground with a mere gesture of his hand.
Tadra exclaimed a surprised glance with Yulo. Palpatine? So he was behind this?
"You know that we won't just lie down and let you kill us?" Tadra asked.
"I know, and I wouldn't have it any other way." Torch said, clicking the hammer of his pistol.
"Very well, shall we begin?" Tadra asked, his eyes narrowed at the clones.
"Yes, sir." Torch replied acidly, before he opened fire on his former leaders.
The shot was deflected effortlessly back, striking another clone trooper. The other clone troopers quickly got back to their feet and chipped in with their own blasters, firing wildly at the Jedi duo. The Jedi deflected many of the bolts back to the troopers, before they ran off again, back into the jungle.
"Split up!" Tadra shouted to Yulo, who nodded in response.
Tadra ran to the left while Yulo leapt off to the right, deftly dodging the clone's fire. Yulo unleashed a massive Force push as he did so, knocking many more of the clone troopers off of their feet.
"Find them, we cannot allow them to escape!" Torch ordered, getting to his feet.
The clones wearily began to search once more for the Jedi. They heard a loud cry from above them. One clone looked up and was immediately cut down from shoulder to stomach as Yulo struck. The other clones managed to push past their shock and horror in order to open fire, only for Yulo to leap back into the trees. Using the opportunity, Tadra leapt out from some nearby cover and swiftly decapitated the clone closest to him, before impaling another as he tried to turn.
"This is turning out to be a bloodbath!" Hound noted with anger.
"This can't continue. Hound, I think that it's time to bring out the big guns." Torch said.
Hound nodded "Very good, sir."
Soon, the clones began to bring out their heavy equipment. Reciprocating blasters, quad laser cannons, missile launchers were handed out and even a number of flame troopers were there to back them up. Accompanying them were All Terrain Personal Transports, All Terrain Attack Pods and TX-130 Saber-class Fighter Tanks, while in the sky, LAATs flew about to help the clones in their pursuit. Lumbering behind the group were a number of All Terrain Open Transports, ferrying in more troopers.
"Well, it looks like they're serious in stopping us, Tadra." Yulo noted from his perch in a tree.
"Indeed, it would appear so, Yulo. I only hope that we are able to hold them off long enough for Molkir and the younglings to get to safety." Tadra said.
"Want to get their attention?" Yulo asked.
"Certainly, how would we do that?" Tadra asked.
Yulo smiled "You see that LAAT up there?"
Tadra looked up to see the one that Yulo was reffering to, before nodding "What did you have in mind?"
"We're going to pull it down!"
Tadra was quite frankly amazed that all of this was happening, only days before they had been fighting alongside the clones, not against them. Nevertheless, Tadra knew that it would have to be done if they were to ensure Molkir's safety. Tadra simply nodded in response, before turning his attention to the LAAT.
Torch and Hound were combing the jungle, hoping that their search would end soon. Hound was now carrying a PLX-1 portable missile launcher, which was strapped firmly to his back, in addition to his blaster rifle. As the two were marching along, Torch's com-link suddenly chirped to life.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is LAAT, Raquor'daan's Sting! We're going down, but we're not suffering any problems! It' the Jedi!" The LAAT pilot cried out.
"Pilot, eject immediately! Eject!" Torch shouted into the com-link.
"Negative! If we eject then our vehicle will crash into the troops!" The pilot responded.
Torch exhaled "Try to regain control!"
"We're trying to level out, but-!" The pilot abruptly screamed, before the communication cut out, followed by an explosion.
"Stang!" Torch cursed.
Despite the best efforts of the pilots, the Raquor'daan's Sting had crashed. While they had managed to avoid the majority of the clone troopers on the ground, they had still crashed into an AT-AP, destroying it and killing at least a dozen troopers.
"Sir, we found the co-pilot!" Backlash cried as he and another clone trooper helped to support the badly injured co-pilot "He's in critical condition, he needs a medical droid immediately!"
Torch nodded "I'll call in a medivac for him. Everyone else, get back to the search!"
It was at that point that Yulo burst out of cover and quickly killed another two clone troopers with a quick flourish of his lightsaber hand. Acting quickly, he rushed forward and attacked three more clones.
They would prove to be the last clones that Yulo would kill.
A missile flew towards Yulo at incredible speeds. Taken aback, Yulo instinctively raised his lightsaber, as if to deflect the missile back. It was a fatal mistake, and the subsequent explosion sent Yulo flying. His badly burned corpse lay a few meters away, his lightsaber completely destroyed by the blast. Torch looked behind him to see Hound standing nearby, the barrel of his missile launcher still smoking.
"Got him." Hound said simply as he lowered the missile launcher.
"No!" Tadra cried out in horror from a nearby tree branch, which he quickly leapt out of in order to engage the clones.
"Blast him!" Torch ordered as he fired his pistol.
Tadra managed to deflect quite a number of blaster bolts back at his attackers, killing many. However, he soon found that he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of clones. Bravely, he held his ground. When the killing shot connected, Torch found that he held a grudging respect for his fallen enemy.
"Commander, that's the generals taken care of. Where's the Commander?" Hound asked.
Torch looked up from Tadra's blaster ridden corpse "No doubt he's protecting the younglings. We should hurry, he may flee."
Soon, the group stumbled upon the disabled RTT.
"It looks like we did more damage than we thought, Commander." Backlash noted as he ran his hand over a blaster scored panel.
"Quiet, we don't want him to hear us!" Torch hissed.
"Hear that?" Hound whispered.
There was a strange noise coming from inside the RTT. The clones exchanged glances as they wearily went in.
"No sign of the Jedi." Hound noted.
"Perhaps he fled?" Torch suggested.
"Commander, over here!" Backlash said, waving the other clones over.
There was a large blanket covering the floor. There were a number of shapes under it.
"The younglings?" Backlash asked.
"He left them here?" A surprised Hound said.
"Saved his own skin, the coward." Torch said with disgust.
The strange noise was coming from under the blanket. Torch reached down to pull it off of the younglings...
...And saw a number of dismembered battle droids lying in a heap. They were groaning in obvious discomfort.
"What the-?" An astonished Torch exclaimed.
"Jedi...ambushed us..." One of the battle droids muttered, motioning to his severed legs with his one remaining hand.
"C-c-c-carried us in here-re-re...s-s-said we were b-b-bait." Another battle droid, this one missing half of his head stammered.
Torch was furious "Find him! We have to get to him, now!"
In the spaceport, Molkir carried a trolley which held all of the younglings behind him. He walked up to a Ghtroc class 580 Light Freighter, which was supposed to have taken the younglings back to Coruscant. Standing besides it was an alien which Molkir likened to a bipedal dianoga. He looked up upon Molkir's approach.
"You the Jedi I'm supposed to be meeting?" The alien asked.
Molkir nodded in response "Y-yes, that's right."
The alien held out his hand, which had long, skeletal fingers "Captain Ag Cyyngu." He withdrew his hand when Molkir made no effort to reach it "And you want me to take those younglings back to Coruscant?"
Molkir shook his head "A-actually, there's been a change in plans..."
Ag sighed in exasperation "A change in plans?" He repeated "Well that's just wonderful! I'm already behind on delivering mining equipment to Artus Prime and now you're telling me that there's been a change in plans? What now then?"
"I want you to take me along with the younglings. Take us to Artus Prime." Molkir said.
Ag looked puzzled "Artus Prime? That sounds awfully convenient. Are you in some kind of trouble, kid?"
Molkir looked desperate "Please, you have to take us! I'll pay you extra!" Molkir pleaded.
"Whoa, take it easy, kid! Alright, fine, I'll take you to Artus Prime."
Molkir let out a sigh of relief "Thank you, Captain Cyyngu."
"No problem. Now, get aboard, I want to ship out as soon as possible."
A few minutes later, the group departed. Molkir could only hope that they would finally be safe on Artus Prime.
And that's the end of the first chapter. Captain Cyyngu is the same species as Cy Yunga, the podracer from the game, Star Wars I: Racer. Cyyngu's name is just an anagram of Cy Yunga. Next chapter will feature one of Dooku's Dark Acolytes; a former Bpfasshi Jedi named Kanar Revv as he struggles with guilt over his defection. I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, please remember to leave a review and finally...thanks for reading!